Switchblade

by Carsen Taite

  “He give you a reason?”

  “Told me to develop my own relationships. That Calderon required special handling and only worked with certain cops.”

  “And that wasn’t a red flag?” I couldn’t believe this guy had ever made detective.

  “Not especially. Hell, Luca, I’m still trying to figure out how all this works. My partner who’s been on the job way longer gives me advice, I follow it.”

  Jorge looked me straight in the eye. Not a twitch of body language. He was telling the truth. Damn. I’d hoped he would know more, be able to lead me to Calderon’s door, talk his way in, get me to Jess. I gave it one last try. “So you have absolutely no idea how we can find him?”

  “I don’t, but I know who might. She joined vice not too long before I did. Nancy Walters. Didn’t you say she’s a friend of yours?”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  I didn’t want to believe him, but my gut told me it was true. Whatever was going on, Nancy was in it up to her eyeballs. I leaned across the table until I was right in Jorge’s face. To his credit, he didn’t back up. “Tell me everything you know.”

  “Not much other than she was using Calderon on a regular basis when I joined the unit.”

  “I don’t get it,” Ryan said. “I’ve got a stack of police reports that list him as a dealer. If he’s a registered CI, wouldn’t the entire department know?”

  Jorge hitched a shoulder. “I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t explain it.”

  I let him stew for a minute, but he didn’t squirm. A beep broke the silence and the display on Jess’s phone lit up. I read the text out loud. “Reverchon Park. Basketball court. Midnight. Alone.” The clock on the wall read eight o’clock. I didn’t know what I wished more—that we had more time to figure things out or that we could get this over with.

  “Well, you may not be able to explain things, but I know who can. I think it’s time we go back by Nancy’s place and sort this out.” I pointed at Jorge. “You’re coming with me. You have your gun with you?”

  Ronnie came out of her chair. “Wait a minute. You think she’s dangerous?”

  “Settle down. All I know about Walters is she’s a conniving opportunist. I figure a little show of force will get her talking.”

  “I’m armed and I’m ready to find out who framed me,” Jorge said. “Let’s go.”

  He looked eager to get started. Good. He may not be the brightest, but having him show up on her doorstep might spook Nancy enough to get her talking. “Great. C’mon.”

  Ryan shot a look at Brett before saying, “I’m going with you. I don’t have a gun, but I can talk a good game.”

  I paused. Alone was my preferred M.O. I was only bringing Jorge along for shock value. Adding Ryan made it a posse. I took a moment to get used to the idea. Jess would like that I had a posse, damn team player that she was. I nodded at Ryan, snapped my fingers at Cash, and headed for the door.

  As I started to climb in the Bronco, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Ronnie. “What?”

  “You’re going to leave without saying good-bye? What if something happens to you?”

  She sounded genuinely concerned and a little hurt. The concerned part was nice, but the hurt part I could do without. “I can take care of myself.”

  “I don’t have a shot here, do I?”

  “You should be a detective.”

  “Am I wrong, or did we have a good time together?”

  “Past tense.” I tapped my hand against the doorframe. I had better places to be.

  “Can’t blame a girl for trying. Will you at least watch out for my brother?”

  Her eyes watered. Damn woman was about to cry. I softened my tone, just a little bit. “That I can promise you.”

  Nancy’s house was blazing with Christmas lights. Ill-gotten gains sure did shine bright. Cash and I stood on the front doorsteps while Jorge and Ryan stood off to the side. Nancy answered the door with a smile, but when she saw me, she took a step back. I pushed through the door. “Expecting someone else?”

  “You were supposed to be Chinese food.” Her smile was starting to fade.

  “Happy coincidence. I like Chinese food. So do my friends.”

  On cue, Jorge and Ryan followed me through the door. I pushed Nancy toward her plush living room. “Have a seat, Nance. We’ve got some talking to do.”

  She stood in place. “Get out, Luca. Take your mutt and your friends with you.”

  “No can do, Walters. Your pals have Jess, and they’re going to kill her if you don’t help us stop them.” I pulled out my Colt and Cash growled. Come to think of it, he hadn’t liked her from the start—should’ve been a clue. “Start talking.”

  Nancy backed up and raised her hands. “Whoa, what’s with the firepower? What happened to Chance?”

  “Your little buddy, Calderon, snatched her this afternoon. I don’t know how to get in touch with him, but I hear you’re his regular sidekick. You’re going to tell us how to find him or I’m going to play Russian roulette with this.” I held up the gun. “Won’t take long since it’s fully loaded.”

  Nancy backed up, but she kept up a tough front. “Put the gun away, Luca. I’m sure your attorney friend here can tell you how long you’ll go away for shooting a cop.”

  “Longer than you’ll go away for being an accessory to kidnapping one? I don’t think so.” I pointed the gun at the couch. “Sit down and start talking.”

  Nancy looked between Jorge and Ryan, like they were going to help her find a way out, but all they gave her were stony faces. Without an ally in the room, she had no choice. She sat down.

  “No one was supposed to get hurt.”

  “Too late,” I said. “Tell me how I can find Calderon.”

  “He used to be a CI.”

  “And now?”

  “Now he’s just a drug dealer.”

  “Okay, tell me something I don’t know.”

  She glanced at Jorge and then ducked her head. “I can tell you who his suppliers are.”

  “Quit stalling. I’m not interested in how Calderon does his business. I want to know where I can find him.”

  “Perez and Jackson are two of his suppliers.”

  She was feeding me the information in small bites, but I still had trouble digesting where she was headed. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me Perez and Jackson are running a drug ring out of the police department?”

  She nodded. “All those fake drugs? Pool chalk that vice cops turned into evidence after they confiscated the real drugs. Perez and Jackson managed the stock and gave it to Calderon. He sold it through his distributors and kicked back a cut to them. Since he was working with cops, he was untouchable. The guy could get away with murder.” She had the decency to blush after she realized what she’d just said. “I’m sorry, Luca, I didn’t mean—”

  “Save it. Let me guess, you helped acquire Calderon’s drug stock? You were one of his suppliers?”

  “I didn’t have a choice. Perez forced me into it. She said if I didn’t—”

  I held up a hand to stop her. “I bet I know the answer to this one too. If you didn’t help you wouldn’t get to drive a Corvette or live in such a nice house?” I shook my head in disgust. I had so many questions, but only one that had to be answered right now. “Just tell me where I can find him.”

  “I don’t know. I swear. We always met at Reverchon Park.”

  I raised the Colt. She started talking again. Fast. “All the deals were arranged through Jackson. All I ever did was show up, make the arrest, and switch the drugs.”

  “Well, as luck would have it, we can ask Jackson.” I motioned for her to stand up. “Let’s go.”

  “What?”

  “You didn’t hear? He’s out of his coma and staying at your pal Perez’s place. You and I are going there now. She won’t open the door to me, but she should welcome her little protégé with open arms.”

  *

  Unlike Nancy’s holiday palace, Perez’s modest brick house was dark e
xcept for one dim light, probably coming from a back bedroom. She must spend her money on something other than real estate and holiday decorations.

  I drove my car past once and then parked on a side street about ten houses from Perez’s place. Cash, Ryan, and Jorge all sat forward, keyed up and waiting to see what I had planned next. Nancy looked like she wanted to melt into her seat.

  “What’s the plan?” Jorge asked.

  “You and I are taking Walters to see her pals. Ryan will wait here.” I pulled out my phone and composed a text: At Perez’s house to get some answers. Chance kidnapped. If something happens to me, find her. Attorney Ryan Foster can fill you in. You owe me.

  I hit send and handed the phone to Ryan. “If someone calls, answer. If it’s Calderon, buy me some time. If it’s someone named Diamond, tell her everything.” I slipped Jess’s phone into my pocket and looked over at Cash, who was dancing in place on the console. He clearly didn’t realize he wasn’t coming with. Ryan followed my gaze and rubbed his neck.

  “I’ll take care of him. Until you get back.”

  I nodded, got out of the car, and I motioned for Nancy to lead the way. She started walking, and I pulled Jorge back. “Stay outside and keep an eye on things. I don’t anticipate any trouble, but if any shows up, go back to the car and call the number I just texted on my phone.”

  His excitement faded, but I didn’t care. Perez would be agitated enough at the sight of me with a gun trained on Nancy. She didn’t need to see Jorge’s mug too.

  When we reached Perez’s door, Jorge and I ducked out of sight while I whispered instructions to Nancy. “Ring the bell and get her to invite you in. If I get a hint that you’re warning her, you’re both dead. Nod your head if you understand.”

  She nodded and pushed the bell. It echoed three times before Perez cracked the door.

  “Walters? What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “Not now. Go away. I’ll call you later.”

  Nancy took a step forward, her hand on the door. “It won’t wait. Can I come inside? It’ll only take a minute, but it’s important.”

  “Later.”

  Perez’s tone was firm. Time to intervene. Two big steps and I was standing directly behind Nancy. I shoved her through the door like a human shield, my gun trained over her shoulder.

  “Hi, Perez. Long time no see.”

  “What the hell are you doing here? And what’s with your little sidekick?” She spat the words.

  “Looking for answers. You seem to know all the wrong people, and I’m looking for one of them. Tell me where I can find Jose Calderon and I’m out of here.” I cocked my gun and held it up to Nancy’s head. “You have five seconds. One, two—”

  “You should leave now. You have no idea what you’re doing.” She sputtered a nervous laugh. “You think I care if you shoot Walters?”

  I turned the gun on Perez. “Silly me, I should’ve known better. But you might care if I shoot you, right? Three, four—”

  A deep voice cut into my countdown. “Put the gun down.”

  I instantly recognized the voice and it totally blindsided me.

  “Calderon?”

  “Well, aren’t you smart.”

  His voice came from behind Perez. I scanned the shadows, but couldn’t make out a shape. In my mind, Calderon was huge and hulking, and I braced for the showdown. “Where is she?”

  He stepped out in the open. He wasn’t huge or hulking, but he wasn’t alone. He was flanked by two huge thugs with AK-47’s. Like that wasn’t bad enough, he had a knife in one hand and Jess in the other. He drew her up on her toes and pressed the blade against her neck. My mouth went dry and my knees buckled. Her eyes were tired and she had a goose egg on the right side of her head. As soon as she was safe, this guy was dead.

  But right now, he was standing there, smug, talking like he was in charge. “As you can see, she’s alive and well. I’ve kept my part of the bargain. Give me the tape.”

  I had to stall. “It’s not midnight and we’re not in the park. I didn’t bring it with me.”

  “How unfortunate.” He pressed the knife against Jess’s throat. The drops of blood were like gas on fire. Blocking out the goons with the big guns, I took a step forward, but stopped when I saw him press harder and shout, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” When he was satisfied I wasn’t coming closer, he said, in an eerily calm voice, “Put down your gun and let’s talk about how to get me what I want.”

  “Don’t do it, Luca.”

  Jess barely got the words out before Calderon slugged her in the jaw. I moved my gun back and forth, hell-bent on emptying every bullet I had into his brain, but I couldn’t get a clear shot since he’d stepped back behind her. I could feel Walters and Perez inching closer, and Calderon’s sidekicks raised their weapons. I never should’ve come in here by myself, but it hadn’t even occurred to me that I’d run into Calderon, let alone Jess.

  I looked around the room. My gun against two AK-47s. If I was the only one in danger, the choice would be easy, but no way would I take a shot with Jess’s life in jeopardy. My only choice was to buy some time toward a way out. I took a deep breath and placed the Colt on the floor.

  Calderon’s smile was evil. He waved his knife at Nancy. “Search her. She has something I want.”

  “I told you we didn’t tell her anything.” Perez pointed at Jess. “She lied to you.”

  He barked at Perez. “Like you never lied to anyone. I’ll make up my own mind about who I want to trust.”

  So the members of this little team weren’t all on the same page. Jess had apparently told Calderon she’d gotten the goods on Perez and Jackson and driven a wedge between them. I could help that along. “You’ll want the recording all right, but I’m telling you I don’t have it on me. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

  “We’ll see.” He leaned back and watched while Nancy ran her hands up and down my body. She was enjoying herself way too much. I started to kick her in the crotch, but reconsidered. I still had a switchblade tucked in my boot. If I could distract her, maybe I could keep her from finding it. If I pushed her away, Calderon would probably have one of the big gun guys do the search, and they looked more interested in breaking my legs than feeling them up. I closed my eyes to keep from seeing Jess’s reaction, and arched into Walter’s hands. She took full advantage, and her search turned slow and thorough. It sucked beyond belief. Luckily, she wasn’t big on ankles, and the knife survived the search. I glanced over at Jess, but this time her eyes were closed. I wanted to die.

  “Nothing.” Walters delivered the report to Calderon with a smug look.

  He didn’t take long to rob her of her pleasure. “You think you’re in the clear? Why did you bring her here? You plan on taking me down?”

  “No way!” Nancy yelled, pointing at me. “She had a gun on me. She has other people with her. They could come in here any minute.”

  “She’s full of shit,” I said. “Look outside. There’s no one else. Let Chance go and I’ll stay here. She can get the recording and come back.”

  “We didn’t tell her anything.”

  I’d never seen Perez in pleading mode before, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it. Calderon motioned to the door and told Perez, “Look out there. Tell me if you see anyone.”

  She opened the door and stepped outside. She was gone several very long minutes. “No one’s out there,” she reported when she returned.

  “Take these two in the back,” he said to Perez and Walters. “Tie them up while I figure out what to do.”

  This wasn’t good. I didn’t know what figuring out consisted of, but it didn’t seem like it was going to go well for us. If we could keep him convinced we had incriminating evidence, we might stay alive, but if he decided we were lying, he’d probably kill us both. Either way, we didn’t have a lot of time. Even if Diamond responded to my text, no way would she be able to get a team in place in time to ride to the rescue. We’d have to sa
ve ourselves.

  Perez and Walters took us to what looked like a guest room. Twin bed, small chest of drawers, and a couple of chairs. After instructing us to sit in the chairs, Perez reached into one of the drawers and pulled out several lengths of rope. Who kept rope in their guest room?

  Walters made a point of taking her time tying me up, and I kept up a steady stream of conversation to try to distract her.

  “Hey, Nance, you think you’re getting out of here alive? Sounds like Calderon thinks you’re not to be trusted. And if you think Perez here is going to stick up for you, well, we know what a bitch she can be.”

  “Shut up, Luca,” Perez said.

  “Why? You have noisy neighbors? Scared one of them might call the cops? Oops, guess that’s not really an option since you’re all dirty.”

  Walters leered. “If all cops are dirty, what does that make your little girlfriend, Luca? But I guess you don’t care about right and wrong as long as you’re getting a piece of ass, right?”

  I resisted the urge to look Jess’s way. I didn’t want to give Perez and Walters any more ammunition to use against us, but Jess’s silence concerned me. Wasn’t like her to go down without a fight. Had Calderon roughed her up worse than I could tell?

  As if on cue, Calderon stuck his head in the door and spoke to Perez. “Finish up and get out here. The rest of my guys will be here soon.”

  When he disappeared from sight, I took advantage of the last chance I’d have to convince Perez she was on the wrong side of things. “Why are you letting that guy run the show? There’s two of you, three if Jackson’s up to it.”

  “Shows what you know,” Nancy said. “Jackson’s in no condition for anything and Calderon knows it. And who do you think those guys with Calderon are, his golf buddies? They’re—”

  “Shut up, Walters.” Perez’s eyes blazed anger. “You need to watch yourself.”

  I tried one last shot. “Sounds like you’re both under the gun. Let us go. We’ll help you.”

  She answered by slamming the door behind them as they left us alone. I listened as their footsteps faded away, and that was it. Wherever they were talking to Calderon, they were far enough away we wouldn’t be able to hear them.